Singapore — The PAP’s Chan Chun Sing has responded to opposition party leaders Dr Tan Cheng Bock and Dr Paul Tambyah’s request for a debate with him and his party colleague Gan Kim Yong regarding their response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

On Sunday (July 5), Mr Chan uploaded a post on Facebook commenting on the request for a debate by opposition Progress Singapore Party Secretary-General Dr Tan and Singapore Democratic Party Chairman Dr Tambyah.

Mr Chan, who is a member of the multi-ministry task force on Covid-19, noted that Dr Tan had declined to share what topics he wished to debate on when asked by the media.

“Why not present their plans to the voters now on how they intend to help Singapore and Singaporeans get through this most serious health and economic crisis in decades?” suggested Mr Chan. He pointed out voters would want to know such information before Polling Day on July 10.

The day before, on Saturday (July 4), Mr Chan had mentioned at a press conference that in his preparations for a Zaobao forum two days earlier, he had looked closely at the manifestos of the various parties and read through all the things that had been said. He found that, while many things had been said, there was one part that was glaringly missing. That one part had to do with “how are we going to get through this Covid crisis, how are we going to save jobs”.

He said that every party, including the PAP, must have the plans to share with voters on how “we are going to get through this situation”.

Mr Chan said the General Election was not about the survival of any particular opposition party or how many seats the PAP was going to secure. It is really about “how we get through this”.

Members of the online community expressed their interest in the debate, saying it would be beneficial to hear both sides.